


Hazelnut

by Immerghensi



Category: A.C.E (Beat Interactive Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Bakery and Coffee Shop, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22361077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Immerghensi/pseuds/Immerghensi
Summary: Chan calls him Hazelnut, and he kind of loves him.No, he doesn’t know his actual name, and yes, it’s because he's the local social disaster, but that's fine. Hazelnut gets the same thing every day and Chan already knows his order by heart.
Relationships: Kang Yuchan | Chan/Park Junhee | Jun
Comments: 4
Kudos: 94





	Hazelnut

**Author's Note:**

> Just something I speed-wrote last night and edited before work. My coffee is calling my name~

It’s a busy morning- aren’t they all? The line looks like it’s about to hit the door and if one more person manages to squeeze inside the shop, he’s going to scream. It’s 8:00 primetime and all hands are on deck. Chan is making iced coffee’s on autopilot, and the amount of free bubble tea he gets is definitely _not_ worth this.

The bell jingles once more and throwing the towel in, literally, probably in the direction of the manager’s office while she’s dealing with the latest mobile order bugs, sounds like a splendid option. College kids in need of dinner money are a dime a dozen- she could easily replace him. Then again, no one knows the secret to simultaneously making two iced Americanos, a mocha latte, and that weird new matcha health drink- 

“HAVE A GOOD DAY MRS. YOON!!!”

\- so he supposes he should stay for the sake of Geonhak, who’s eyeing the industrial ovens like it’ll convince the croissants to bake faster, and Seokmin, who doesn't flinch anymore when he gets burned. Luckily Jaehyun is manning the register which means everyone in the line is generally ok (they seem to calm down around him, who knows, he isn’t going to argue it), which is good because there’s a growing crowd of people around the pickup area. Chan is now throwing out cappuccinos and double-shot espressos because Geonhak to has to put together two twelve-packs of donuts, and boy, they are going to sleep _good_ tonight. 

The bell rings for the fourth time in five minutes, and Chan looks up to see-

_Oh._

He bites down on his lip and ducks his head so no one can see how hard he’s smiling. 

Chan calls him Hazelnut, and he kind of loves him.

No, he doesn’t know his actual name, and yes, it’s because Chan is the local social disaster who goes braindead in the face of unreasonably beautiful people, what about it? Hazelnut is one of those humans who everybody looks at and goes ‘God… leave some for the rest of us’. Seriously- the universe gave him the once-over and said ‘yup, we did real good’ before sending him out into the world...

...and into the coffeeshop where their designated celestial jester works. 

Chan attempts to evacuate his mind and instead listen to the voices at the register so he can prepare for their orders. He can't be flustered by those kinds of thoughts if he isn't thinking at all, right? He picks up two more cups and fills them with ice. 

Hazelnut gets the same thing every day- medium iced coffee, hazelnut creme, one pump of liquid sugar- and does the same routine- sip, shake, sip, stir- without fail. It took Chan an embarrassingly few number of visits for him to memorize the order, and he’s quickly become a favorite customer. And for good reason- Hazelnut isn’t like others, meaning he won’t start talking like he plans to fight the staff when his order doesn’t come immediately. (It’s surprising and honestly a little sad how many people _aren’t_ like this, but he’s learned to roll with the punches.) He just sits at one of the tables, stands if there aren’t any seats, and waits quietly. Sometimes he’ll talk with other customers at their daily caffeine pit-stop (Chan’s eardrums have been blessed by his adorable laugh, thank the heavenly bodies) but otherwise he’ll scroll around on his phone. Chan puts one pump of sugar into the cup while on the way to the freezer for frozen fruit.

Hazelnut walks over to the counter to wait with the crowd. Mrs. Oh is here today, so he strikes up a conversation with her, something about the grandkids, which instantly puts a smile on her face and _oh great_ , now he’s back to making bite marks on the inside of his lip. The man has no business being that cute. Imagine bringing that guy home to his mom. She’d probably love him more than her own son! _Aish_ , what’s gotten into him? He can’t let himself get that far out of hand... Chan pours the hazelnut creme into the cup with his right hand while his left holds down the button for a frozen vanilla latte. He nearly collides with Seokmin as they put drinks down on the counter, but they dance around each other back to their stations. Jaehyun through one miracle or another has gotten through the order line and is helping Chan throw together more cold drinks while narrowly skirting around Geonhak, now back with the croissants. He asks someone to repeat their order because the mobile app is acting up, passing off the slips of paper with perfectly written coffee concoctions on them, laying them on the machines in a queue. Hazelnut is now at the front of the group. 

“Hi, yeah, could you tell me--?” Jaehyun starts and the same time Chan's long arm holds out a medium iced and he asks 'Hazelnut?'.

Hazelnut looks at the drink, then at him, then at Jaehyun in what feels like the real-life equivalent of dramatic telenovela editing. 

“Um… yeah…” 

He takes the order. 

The order Chan shouldn’t have known because he didn’t have it. 

And Chan stares like a red-handed idiot until he puts one and one together and turns away. 

All things considered, he didn’t banshee scream in Hazelnut’s face, so he isn’t completely a lost cause. 

That being said, if he could teleport back to his apartment and hide in his blankets for three years, that would be awesome. 

Geonhak and Seokmin are now looking at him from where their own coffee-making motions have slowed because they’re curious people, and Chan is the human equivalent of a flaming car on the side of the road diverting three lanes of traffic. Hazelnut lifts the cup. 

Sip. 

Shake. 

Sip. 

Stir. 

And he smiles that long, perfect smile. 

“Great as always, Bubbles.” 

Hazelnut tips his drink towards the barista in a gesture of polite respect, but now he's walking away, out of Chan's life once more, for the next 24 hours. 

“Ha- Ah-- have-” Chan’s voice trails off in partial defeat, but then Hazelnut spares him a second glance, winking over his shoulder, and Chan can feel his insides turning to jelly while he's going, going, gone. “Have a… Good…. Day…” 

++

Doubles are brutal but a job is a job and jobs pay money, which is an unfortunately necessary thing for things like rent and utilities and food, so he’s still here cleaning up and refilling the carafes even though it’s 8PM and he feels like a zombie. Not even the awesome power of kpop can help him now. Elkie, the girl who tagged in for Jaehyun, is trying her best to cheer him up by dancing and quietly singing the words under her breath between orders, bless her heart. Jeongguk is cleaning out the machines while Mingyu gently tells the customers that they’ll be closing in about 30 minutes, so if they want to order another drink or any food, he’d be happy to take those orders now. Chan takes a long sip of his second matcha milk tea in five hours in the far-fetched hopes the sugar rush will keep him going until they lock up for the night. He hears the bell on the door jingle and tells himself that he’s almost done, he can handle another last-minute customer, and that he can't start crying until after the customers are gone. Chan rests his head against the cabinet and resumes washing dishes while Elkie takes the order. 

“Welcome, can I take your order?” 

“I’m actually here for _that one_.” -wait a minute, no way--

Chan freezes. 

By the sound of it, everyone else does too. 

“Chan?” Elkie calls. When he turns around, she just points at Hazelnut, in all his business-casual glory, with a confused look. 

“Yeah, I got it.” 

And like a jerk, Mingyu sees where this is going and wishes him good luck and tells him he’ll give him some privacy, which means he’s going to be watching and probably recording the whole debacle. He leads them to a table to sit and discuss. 

He's not sure what to say, but luckily Hazelnut does. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here. I thought I’d go in and ask someone to give you my number.” 

“I wasn’t expecting you either. You’re usually a morning person.” Uh oh, was that creepy? Most people didn’t pay attention to the small details, but those same people usually thought it was weird that he could. “I- I mean, you’re here all the time so I’ve gotten used to seeing you.” 

“Eh, creature of habit.” He laughs, and it sounds so much better at this distance, so crisp and clear, that Chan can feel his internal thermostat switching on, “I’ve seen you working a lot, and I think you’re really cute. Would you like to go out some time?”

If he had dog ears, they would have perked up. 

“Sure! Where are we going?” 

Hazelnut furrows his brows. “‘Out’... like on a date...?"

“I-- _oh_.” Chan mentally kicks himself for missing that cue. He can hear the generic sitcom-type laugh irradiating out of the universe. “I’d love that.” 

“Great!” 

Chan seems to be going one-for-two each turn, missing the hint about the date but managing to pull out a pen from his apron so they can exchange numbers on brown recycled napkins. He draws in a little smiley next to his number and trades with his favorite customer, whose name he now knows is Junhee. Junhee says something about lunch. Chan says something, he’s not really sure what, but he _does_ respond, blanket statement. Junhee says he'll text him and waves as he walks backwards, effortless. Chan stammers out a weak 'sounds like a plan'. When the little bell jingles to signal his departure, Chan’s coworkers grab him and rattle him around, congratulating him. 

He chews on his boba and stares at the numbers next to the scrawled message _See you soon, Bubbles!_ , still coming to terms with the fact that the whole situation happened, when it hits him. 

Hazelnut- _Junhee_ \- knows his order too. 

**Author's Note:**

> I edited once for continuity but I'll fix the little things as I find them.  
> Leave a comment if you liked it! They bring me joy :3


End file.
